SanDisk announced the world’s first 1TB SD at Photokina 2016. We caught up with Christophe from SanDisk, who told us all about their new Extreme PRO 1TB SD card.
You’re probably familiar with Moore’s Law, by which the capabilities of current technology seem to double approximately every two years. Well, like clockwork, two years after the introduction of their 512GB card, SanDisk have introduced the world’s first 1TB SD card.
As part of the SanDisk Extreme PRO series, this new card will be compatible with the current high storage and high data transfer rate demands of video and photo shooters alike, with 95MB and 90MB/sec Read and Write speeds respectively. This means that whether it is 4K video, high frame rates or fast, continuous photo bursts, this card will be able to handle it at least as well as its 512GB version.
Unfortunately, the model at Photokina 2016 was only a prototype, and there is no further information available yet other than it will hit the market at some point next year. With price points fluctuating so regularly in this sector, Christophe was also unable to give us an approximate price for the SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB SD card for the time being.
What do you think of this announcement? Do you prefer large capacity cards? Or are you more inclined towards multiple cards with less capacity to be safe just in case? Let us know in the comments!

The OWC Aura SSD is a neat little solution by Other World Computing that allows you to increase your MacBook Pro’s storage space… Wait, I thought you weren’t allowed to do that anymore…?
Apple has become the de facto computer brand for people in creative industries such as ours, whether you like it or not. Someone starting out in video will almost undoubtedly be drawn to Apple computers when investing in new equipment. However, the sometimes hefty price tags often make people opt for base model laptops such as the 13 inch MacBook Pro rather than a full-fledged workstation such as the MacPro.
The End of the User Upgradeable Macbook Pro
Apple used to be nice people. Their old Macbook Pro models had a regular 2,5” drive and standard laptop RAM stick slots. If after a while you found your machine to be too slow, you could easily rejuvenate it by adding an SSD and more RAM for relatively little money. Heck, you could even remove the optical drive and add ANOTHER drive for even more storage. All you needed was a little courage to open your beloved MBP and a Torx screwdriver. I actually managed to keep a 2009 MBP alive and well until quite recently. Granted, it wasn’t a 4K editing beast, but it chugged along fine for day to day HD work.
But a few years ago, Apple ruined it for everybody. Word on the street was that they had decided to integrate components onto the motherboard, and abandoned the widely available 2,5” drive in favour of smaller SSD modules. This meant that you had to choose your specs wisely when purchasing your machine: once you got it, that was it. Sad face.
The OWC Aura SSD to the Rescue
But the nice folks over at Other World Computing, home of all sorts of computer upgrade products, have a solution that can help you get more out of your MBP: the OWC Aura SSD.
This PCIe-based flash SSD module is designed specifically to replace the one found in mid-2013 or later MacBook Pros. They come in capacities of 480GB and 1TB, greatly improving on the standard MBP storage sizes.
Features of the OWC Aura SSD
The OWC Aura SSD is designed to maintain a 7% wiggle room in its storage capacity in order to run maintenance tasks in the background and optimise performance. This means more stability for your system drive. Installation consists of a hardware swap only, without the need to configure the drive via software in any way.
All the necessary tools to allow for an easy installation are included with the product, so no need to head to your local hardware store to hunt for obscure types of screwdrivers. Also included is the Envoy Pro Enclosure, which will accept your old drive and turn it into an external SSD USB 3.0 drive, which you can use to migrate your data to your fresh OWC Aura SSD.
It is really great to see SSD prices coming down: a 1TB SSD would have cost an arm and a leg not too long ago. Today, the 1TB version of the OWC Aura SSD will set you back anywhere between $399.75 to $647.00, depending on the exact model of MacBook Pro you wish to upgrade and whether you include the Envoy Pro enclosure.
DISCLAIMER: bear in mind, installation obviously means opening up your machine. If anything goes wrong, it may void your Apple warranty. Also, make sure your Macbook Pro model is compatible.
Have you had any experience with the OWC Aura SSD module? Would you recommend it? Let us know in the section below!

[UPDATE] The new firmware for the Odyssey7Q+ is now available:
Download Odyssey Firmware 2015.7
Convergent Design just announced a new free firmware update for the Odyssey7 and Odyssey7Q+ recorders and a major revamp of their Odyssey7Q+ SSD support and prices.
The Convergent Design Odyssey7Q+ OLED Monitor & Recorder is for many still the gold standard of disk recorders. Especially when it comes to recording RAW slow motion from cameras like the Sony FS700 or Sony FS7 it delivers astonshing results in a reliable and ergonomic package.
A few months ago the Atomos Shogun joined the market of 4K recorder and offered a significantly more affordable package. While it cannot record slow motion, just 2 days ago Atomos released an update that enables recording via the Sony cameras’ RAW outputs.
At $2.295 the Odyssey7Q+ is $600 more expensive versus the Shogun (Barebones Edition) that comes in at $1.695. The real difference however lies in that features have to be purchased individually on the Odyssey and the proprietary recording media has been significantly more expensive so far.
With the new upgrade Convergent Design opens up their recording media compatibility to third party manufacturer Samsung. This way some specific versions of Samsung SSD’s can be used with the recorder.
Here’s a list of all supported SSD’s
Samsung 850 PRO 128GB ($99)
Samsung 850 PRO 256GB ($158)
Samsung 850 PRO 512GB ($278)
Samsung 850 PRO 1024GB ($489)
Samsung 850 EVO 1000GB ($380)
As you can see the Samsung 850 EVO 1000GB is the best value for the byte. In comparison to the proprietary Convergent Design media which was $1.395, this is a huge price advantage and makes the Odyssey 7Q+ all that much more attractive again.
Note that in order to record slow motion from one of the aforementioned Sony cameras you will need:
Odyssey7Q+ (or previous versions)
2x Odyssey7Q+ SSD‘s (because it records alternating frames to achieve high speed)
Odyssey RAW bundle ($995)
So a working package of this kind for the Sony F cameras with 2x 128GB would still cost a total of $3.488. In comparison you could get an Atomos Shogun (Barebones Edition) with a 256GB SSD for $1.804 [Updated], but it will not offer the slow motion or RAW recording capabilities.
Convergent Design also announced that they are lowering prices on their proprietary media by up to 44% and also that from now on a 256GB SSD, as well as 5 empty SSD caddies will be included with every new Odyssey7Q+ recorder.
The new firmware 2015.07 will be coming soon via the Convergent Design website.